The invention relates to an electrical interruption device comprising a plurality of locations for auxiliary contacts whose state is representative of the state of the device, at least one auxiliary contact located in one of said locations and a communication module designed to be connected to a communication bus.
Electrical interruption devices, and more particularly circuit breakers and/or contactors, must be able to communicate with supervision and/or control devices. FIGS. 1 to 3 illustrate the various types of communication provided in known circuit breakers.
The circuit breaker 1, according to FIG. 1, comprises a trip device 2 of electronic type. The trip device 2 comprises a communication output enabling data transmission to an external indication module 4 via a unidirectional serial link 3. As an example, the trip device 2 can transmit data representative of the trip device settings, of the measured current values, of overshooting of certain thresholds, or of the cause of tripping. The module 4 can, for its part, be connected to a communication bus 5. A trip device of this kind is, for example, marketed by the Applicant under the trademark STR53UE, in association with a circuit breaker of COMPACT NS mark, to communicate with a module of DIALPACT mark able to communicate with a supervisor via a BatiBUS or JBUS type bus.
The circuit breaker 1 according to FIG. 2 also comprises a trip device 2 of electronic type. This trip device is able to transmit information to a bus 6 able to be connected directly to a supervision unit. It can in addition be equipped with an electrical control 7 connected to a bus 5 by means of an external remote control module 8. A trip device of this kind is, for example, marketed by the Applicant under the trademark STR68, in association with a circuit breaker of MASTERPACT trademark. It transmits information representative of the state of the circuit breaker or of the state of the power supply network to a supervisor by means of a JBUS or PPNET type bus.
The circuit breaker 1 of FIG. 3 is equipped with a thermomagnetic type trip device 2. A trip device of this kind cannot communicate directly with an external bus. However, the circuit breaker 1 classically comprises a certain number of auxiliary contacts 9 actuated by the circuit breaker mechanism and whose position, linked to the position of the main contacts of the circuit breaker, is representative of the state of the circuit breaker. Conventionally, an auxiliary contact (O/F) indicates the open/closed position of the circuit breaker poles, another auxiliary contact (SD) indicates that the circuit breaker is in the tripped state, whereas a third contact (SDE) supplies an electrical fault signal when the circuit breaker has been tripped by an electrical fault (overload, short-circuit, differential fault) detected by the circuit breaker. The auxiliary contacts can be connected, wire to wire, to an external indication module 4, of DIALPACT type for example, which can itself be connected to a supervisor by a bus 5. The circuit breaker can, as in FIG. 2, be remote controlled, by means of the bus 5 and of a remote control module 8 acting on an electrical control 7 of the circuit breaker. A circuit breaker of this type is, for example, marketed by the Applicant under the trademark COMPACT NS, with a TM type thermomagnetic trip device. Wire to wire cabling of the auxiliary contacts and of the indication module is performed by the switchboard fitter.
In all these circuit breakers, communication with the bus requires the use of indication and/or remote control modules external to the circuit breaker and a specific cabling by the switchboard fitter according to the type of trip device used.